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The winners of the HarperCollins Reading
for Pleasure Awards 2024, in association with the Open University and the UK
Literacy Association (UKLA), have been announced. Each year since its launch in
2017, the awards have recognised and celebrated teachers who are putting
Reading for Pleasure at the heart of their classrooms in creative and
innovative ways, to inspire children to read.
This year, Hannah Gold author of The Last Bear joined the judging
panel as the guest judge.
The winners were awarded across six
categories this year, with each category receiving £250 worth of books from
across Farshore, HarperCollins Children’s Books, Collins and Barrington Stoke
along with 20 copies of Help Your Child Love Reading by Alison David.
Early Career – WINNER:
Charlotte Squirrell, Moorlands Church of England Primary Academy, Norfolk
Experienced Teacher – JOINT WINNERS:
Chris Soul, Watford St John’s Church of England Primary
School, Watford and Imogen Maund, Caldecott
Primary School, Oxfordshire and a HIGHLY COMMENDED to Claire Burton-Gardner,
Turnfurlong Junior School, Buckinghamshire
School Reading Champion – JOINT WINNERS:
Henrietta Englefield, Colfe’s Senior School, London and Kathryn Handley, The
Sir Donald Bailey Primary Academy, Nottinghamshire
Whole School – WINNER: Lydgate
Infant School, Sheffield submitted by Vikki Varley and Daisy Whitehead
Community Reading Champion -JOINT WINNERS:
Cathy Cook, Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Birmingham and Simon Pollard, St Austell
Festival of Children’s Literature, Cornwall
Alison David, Consumer Insight Director at Farshore, said ‘We were so
impressed with the entries; every year we think they can’t get much better, and
they do! It’s a joy to know teachers and educators are focusing on reading for
pleasure strategically and with so much imagination and creativity. To read
about the impact on children and young people is a delight and cause for enormous
optimism.’
Valerie Bloom is the 2022 winner of the CLiPPA award with her impressively wide-reaching collection Stars with Flaming Tails. We were delighted to have the opportunity to talk with Valerie about her work, career and collection.
You were born and grew up in Jamaica. What role did poetry play in your childhood and did you write as a child?
I grew up listening to poetry. My mother and grandmother used to recite poetry all the time. Two favourites of theirs were The Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner and Casabianca. The Jamaican Poet, The Honorable Louise Bennett Coverley was a household name and I remember every weekday sitting around the radio with my family and listening to her mid-day programme, “Miss Lou’s Views”.
As children, we were encouraged to memorise the poetry of the Bible, and every morning and evening we’d recite a psalm during family worship.
Then there was the National Festival where poetry was performed alongside the other art forms. The medal winners would usually be featured on the television, so we would be seeing poetry being performed all summer. At school I was always being coached to enter the festival though we never actually went. I think the logistics of taking kids from rural Jamaica to the capital for the competition was just too much for my teachers.
As soon as I could write I started making up poems and stories. The first was published when I was twelve.
You moved to the UK in 1979, what were your early impressions and experiences of the country?
First impression was probably the same as that experienced by many people coming to the UK from a tropical country – cold. In the middle of July, I kept asking if it was about to snow. I couldn’t imagine that it would get any colder. It was the first time I’d experienced cold sunshine.
Then I was struck by the beauty of the vegetation – the profusion of colours in the flowers. I was quite distressed when winter arrived and I thought all the trees had died!
If I was walking through my town in Jamaica and I made eye-contact with someone without saying hello, I would be considered ill-mannered. I soon learnt that here, if you greeted people on the streets with a cheery “good morning”, you’d receive some strange looks.
I was invited to a poetry reading a little while after I got here and was expecting a performance such as I was used to in our oral tradition. I was amazed when the poet stood and read from his book the entire evening. I’d never seen that before.
Your first collection of poetry was Touch Mi, Tell Mi, can you tell us a little about how that came to be?
I’d been writing poems in Jamaican before I came to the UK. Soon after I arrived, I was approached by someone from the Jamaican Society in Manchester. They had been living here for some time and wanted to form a choir to sing Jamaican folk songs but had forgotten the words. They asked if I could help. I taught and choreographed the songs and soon they were performing around the country.
To add some variety, I would perform a poem or two and people soon started inviting me to give solo performances of the poems. At the performances I’d be asked where they could get the book but I didn’t have one.
I was invited to do a weekly slot reading my poems on Radio Manchester and would write a poem during the week and read it on the radio the following Sunday.
I went to see Jessica Huntley from Bogle L’Overture Books, clutching a handful of these poems, and asked if she would like to publish them. To my amazement, she said yes immediately. The rest is history.
There's a wonderful cadence and musicality to your poetry. Does reading aloud or performance form part of the writing process for you?
When I’m writing I often think about how the poem is going to be performed. Poems are designed to be read aloud. They are as much about sound as they are about the words, so performance and oral delivery are important considerations when I’m writing. Sometime the performance even comes to me before the words and then I find the language to go with the actions. I write a lot on trains, planes and in hotel rooms and sometimes I forget where I am and start acting out a poem I’m writing on the train. I come to my senses when I realise the people around me are looking a little alarmed.
You've written across a broad range of forms - novels, poetry, for the radio and also for the jazz ensemble, Grand Union Orchestra - what has been the most exciting writing experience for you and why?
I did a one woman show for the Children’s Book Show some years ago. That was pretty exciting as we toured around the UK, but also I was able to incorporate story-telling, songs, movement, not just poetry.
Stars with Flaming Tails is your most recent collection and there's a very experimental and playful element to the subjects and forms explored. How do you go about writing and selecting the poems for a collection?
I’m always writing, so at any given time I have some poems which have not been published. When I’m putting a collection together, I go through those poems to see which ones I’d like to use and then write others that would go well with them, whether in terms of themes, language or subject matter. In the case of Stars with Flaming Tails, I got a bit carried away and wrote way too many poems for the book. The fact that I had the sections into which the book is divided seemed to make it easier to write poems to fit those categories. In the end it was Janetta at Otter-Barry books who helped me to decide on the final selection.
Children's poetry has not always received the attention it deserves, it feels to be in an exciting place with the CLiPPA, with Joseph Coelho being announced as the new Children's Laureate and with Manchester's new Poetry Library. What do you think poetry has to offer?
Among other things, poetry develops self-awareness and empathy, is an outlet for self-expression and it helps children to make sense of the world around them. It’s been shown to aid in cognitive development and encourages creative expression. It frees children from the restrictions of grammatical rules, making them more willing and able to explore their emotions in their writing and because it’s usually a short piece of literature, it means it’s appealing to reluctant readers and writers.
Can you give readers any insight as to what might be next for you?
There’s a chapter book coming out soon and I’m now working on another book of poetry. Other projects are just in their embryonic stages so I can’t talk about them yet.
A huge thank you to Valerie Bloom for the interview and to Andrea Reece for the opportunity.
Maisie Chan is the winner of the 2022 Branford Boase award with her
brilliantly funny and thoughtful Danny Chung Does Not Do Maths.We were delighted to talk with Maisie about
her writing and about the award.
What
was your journey to becoming an author?
It’s
been a long journey!
I
guess I had an epiphany when my mum passed away in 2003. I remember telling
someone I wanted to ‘write books!’ but I had no idea where to begin. Three
years later, I began with short stories and flash fiction for adults. I felt
that was a good place to begin as the form is short and I could then move onto
novels. I have to say that I was immensely scared of writing a novel and didn’t
try to write one for years. I felt it was too big a hurdle and that I was not
ready for the task. I also wanted to write a memoir, however, I remember
someone telling me that I was ‘too young’ to write a memoir. At the time, I
didn’t agree, I felt I had a lot to say about my life. Yet, they were right in
terms of my writing ability. I was still very much learning to become a writer.
I had support from Writing West Midlands.
I
had some short stories published and lead creative writing workshops for adults
and children, but I still didn’t write a novel until I became a mentee on the
inaugural Megaphone scheme with
mentor Leila Rasheed back in 2016. I’d had some time away to have children and
had hardly written a thing for five years but felt that this was a great
opportunity for me to get back to what mattered to me, which was writing. I had
wanted to try writing for children after a librarian had told me my ‘voice’
suited children’s and Y.A. I thought I would give it a go. The year I spent as
a Megaphone mentee was brilliant. We had masterclasses from Patrice Lawrence
(just before Orange Boy was published!), Catherine Johnson, Candy Gourlay, Alex
Wheatle and more. We got to speak to editors and agents, and we had a showcase
at the London Book Fair. I wrote a novel for teens called Looking For Lily
Wong and landed my first agent soon after I finished writing it.
During
the time I was editing my teen novel, I felt something just wasn’t working and
put it aside. My agent asked me if I had any middle grade ideas and I pitched
her Danny Chung Does Not Do Maths (which was then called Lychees and
Bingo Balls). She liked the idea, and I wrote it. A year later we went on submission,
and it was picked up by Piccadilly Press in a two-book deal and it was bought
by Amulet in the States a few weeks later. I thought Danny Chung might do
better in the States than in the U.K. because there hadn’t been many (or any) titles
published here for that age group by or for British Chinese people. I wasn’t
sure there was going to be a readership. But I’m glad to say I was wrong!
Can
you introduce us to Danny Chung please?
Danny
is eleven-years-old and is a young artist. He loves drawing comics and getting
his friend Ravi to help with the speech bubbles. It’s an activity that makes
them laugh and one where they can be truly themselves. He also uses drawing to
vent his frustrations and to work out things going on in his life.
Danny
lives above a Chinese takeaway with his parents. They want him to do well at
school, and in their eyes that means being good at maths and other subjects.
His mum’s best friend, Auntie Yee is always comparing him to Amelia Yee who is good
at everything. This makes Danny feel bad.
Danny
also wants to be part of a ‘cool’ group of boys who play physical games
(scooting and shooting their foam pellet guns around the park) rather than the
more imaginative activities that he and Ravi partake in. And to make things
worse, he’s got a math presentation and his gran from China moves in. No-one
has told him this is going to happen, so it’s the worse surprise he can think
of getting. Danny has a lot of personal challenges to overcome in the book.
He's
a regular boy on one hand. But he’s also a British Chinese boy too and so there
are things about his family’s situation and lifestyle which are uniquely
British Chinese. My main concern when writing him was making him relatable.
He’s got wants and desires like any eleven-year-old boy whose parents hope they’ll
to be a certain way, but he has his own path to follow.
The
relationship between Danny and his grandmother, Nai Nai, is beautifully
realised and is often very funny, was it challenging creating the dynamic
between the pair when language is a barrier for them?
Well,
yes and no. My concern for Nai Nai was that I wanted her to inhabit the space
in the book without speaking much and so she is very physical in how she moves,
and her actions speak volumes. I wanted readers to ‘see’ her in their minds clearly
when they read the book and she is by far the most beloved character. I have a
lot of experience in real life of staying with people or communicating with
others who don’t speak the same language as me. I lived in Taipei for a while
and I was the one who was the outsider, who couldn’t speak the language and
would smile and point at things. You find that you can use your body, your
expressions and your hands for communication when language is a barrier, so I
put all of that into the novel. There may be the occasional blip too and you
can see that in the scene were Danny takes Nai Nai to the bowling green and
there is an incident with a large fruit. It made me laugh to write those kinds
of scenes and I think people have enjoyed the humour of the book, but it was
hard not to make Nai Nai into a caricature. She is based on a few older women
that I know, grandmothers and mothers who do spit out lychee seeds into
buckets, or who bash watermelons with their palms. Women who want to show their
love by feeding you and feeding you some more.
The
book is written in first person, so we see things form Danny’s point of view
and I think he was meaner to her in the earlier drafts. My editor helped me to bring out Danny’s
feelings about his grandmother more, but to have him less stroppy. She said he
also needed to be likeable! I think the tricky part was making him dislike her
for taking up space in his life, rather than disliking her for being ‘foreign’
– I didn’t want readers to see her to ‘other’ even though she is newly-arrived,
so that was a challenge and I hope it worked. In the scene with the chicken
feet this came to the forefront – I didn’t want Danny to be embarrassed by the
food, he loves the food she brought to school. He wanted to eat it. He’s
embarrassed that she’s shown up to school. Little things like that were important
for me. I’ve seen books where Chinese food is posited as ‘disgusting’. It’s
about showing the relationship between them as a bridge between generations and
cultures. I had a lot of worries about representation when writing it. I wanted
to centre a British Chinese character, he’s from the diaspora and so it’s
almost a third space. Non-Chinese people might see him as an outsider even
though he’s British, Chinese from Asia don’t see him as fully Chinese because
he can’t speak the language. It’s a precarious place to be.
Danny
finds self-expression through his art, did you have any means for release when
you were growing up?
I
used to like drawing when I was a child. I won a couple of art competitions
when I was in reception class. My painting of Little Red Riding Hood was put up
in my local library (the now closed Selly Oak Library in South Birmingham) and
I used to like music. I was a fan of Shakin’ Stevens and Adam and the Ants and
put masking tape on my face to replicate the Adam Ant stripes that he used to
have on his face. I liked to read and to go to the library. I had a few of
those Ladybird fairytale books at home but we weren’t a family who read. My
parents would read the local newspaper and my dad would buy the Angling Times,
as she was a fisherman, but that was it. I liked to make up games and play out
on the streets and in the local park, which was called Graffiti Park by the
kids, you can guess why!
There's
a lot of thoughtful comment around the fusion of different cultures and
traditions but there is also a lot of humour, were you conscious of creating a
balance between the two and is humour a useful means for exploring complex
ideas?
I
think the humour comes from my family background. I think humour can be used to
break down barriers between people. It can also create divides if you are using
it to bully or make fun of someone. How can I centre this person’s
experience and add nuance to their character? I think was one question I
looked at when writing the characters. For example, Auntie Yee is a tiger mom.
She is like a lot of parents I’ve met (Chinese and also non-Chinese) who are
pushy, they’re competitive and think about their child as the sum of their
academic achievements. I presented that stereotype (because there are people
like that I know), but I also added a layer of empathy where we can see that
Auntie Yee, also strives to belong in a culture that does not accept her fully
so then she thinks that by having certain things or having a daughter who is
the best is the way to make friends of be accepted.
The
Branford Boase recognises both a debut author and also their editor, can you
tell us a little about the relationship you had with your editor Georgia Murray
at Piccadilly Press?
Georgia
loved my writing from the beginning. When we met for the first time, I was sure
this was the right editor for my book. I could tell she loved the characters
and she said it was in ‘good shape’ which made me feel like I wasn’t a total
novice.
Georgia
sends me notes about the big things like structure, characters, plot and then
there are notes on the actual manuscript. I must say that each time I’ve had
editor notes from Georgia, they have been kind (which is very important for
first time writers), the tone is not condescending, or demanding either. She
offers gentle suggestions and so far, there hasn’t been a note which I’ve
disagreed on or had to dispute. I think there is a now an inherent trust
between us. She knows how I work, which can be disorganised, as I have a rough
plan when I start writing but I like to see what will appear as I’m writing. I
have to delete a lot of words sometimes as I try things and they may not always
work but I accept that as part of the process of writing.
It
was interesting for me to have Georgia there from the idea stage with my second
novel - Keep Dancing, Lizzie Chu and I would say her input into the
shaping of Lizzie Chu was a lot more than with Danny Chung as I had her support
all the way through. She was particularly helpful when I was stuck. I think
sometimes I want someone else to come up with the answers for me, but Georgia
is good at encouraging me to stick with the process. Parts of the novel appear
in the writing of it and some of it feels unconscious and magical almost, I
don’t know where some of it comes from.
I
value Georgia’s measured nature and if I have any concerns (I am a worrier!)
then I feel I can always go to her and tell her what’s on my mind. I trust
Georgia (and her team) to know about the market and so when they came up with Danny
Chung Does Not Do Maths as the title of the book, I wasn’t sure, but then I
told myself, I have to trust her and the team to know what is best for the
book.
Your
latest book is 'Keep Dancing, Lizzie Chu,' can you tell us anything about it
please?
Keep
Dancing, Lizzie Chu
is about a young carer whose grandad, Wai Gong is acting a little strange. They’re
huge Strictly Come Dancing fans and Lizzie gets tickets to the Blackpool Tower
(the home of Ballroom and Latin dancing) and she wants to take him there for a
special day out but she’s twelve-years-old and needs help. It’s got a road
trip, cosplay and of course, dancing. But there are also intermissions of
Chinese myths and legends about the goddess Guan Yin who features in the book.
She is the goddess of compassion and mercy. The book is influenced and was
written during the pandemic. It was hard going! It’s really a homage to popular
culture which was our escape during a tough time, and also, it’s a book about
joy and kindness. It’s quite different from Danny Chung Does Not Do Maths,
the themes are a little bit older, as is the voice. The writing was also
different as the story isn’t as layered as Danny Chung either and there isn’t
an antagonist as such, the obstacles are linear. But it is emotive, so I’ve been
told and there is humour in there too and a lively cast of characters. I hope
readers like it!
The
winner of the Branford Boase traditionally goes on to judge the award, is there
anything you will be particularly keen to see next year?
Ohhhh,
what an interesting question! I don’t know! I loved seeing a highly illustrated
book on this year’s shortlist. I think graphic novels are highly sophisticated
and so perhaps I’d like to see one of those do well – a YA graphic novel maybe?
They’re becoming increasingly popular for all age ranges. Also, funny books are
hard to write but often don’t get the kudos that they should in children’s literature.
If you can make a children smile, laugh or giggle that is no mean feat and I
think children need joy now as they’ve been through so much. So maybe a funny
book where you learn something new too? Who knows what we are going to get next
year!
A big thank you to Maisie for the interview and to Andrea Reece for the opportunity.
The Children’s Book Award was founded in 1980 by the
Federation of Children’s Book Groups and is the only Children’s Book award to
be voted for entirely by children across the whole of the United Kingdom.
Shortlist testing is open to all children in the UK and
the overall winner is given the Children’s Book Award Silver Tree which they
keep for a year and an engraved silver acorn which is theirs to keep.Category winners each receive an engraved
glass trophy and every shortlisted author and illustrator receives an
impressive portfolio of writing and artwork created by children responses to
the books.
Peter Bently and Steven Lenton’s Octopus Shocktopus is
the overall winner of the 2022 awards as well as being the category winner for
Books for Younger Children.M. G.
Leonard and Sam Sedgman won the Books for Younger Readers category with The
Highland Falcon illustrated by Elisa Paganelli and Liz Kesler was the Books
for Older Readers category with When the World Was Ours.
Congratulations to all of the authors and illustrators recognised
by the Children’s Book Award and to the children involved in testing.
Peter Bently and Steven Lenton said, ‘We’re
absolutely thrilled that Octopus Shocktopus! has won the Children’s Book
Award 2022!A massive THANK YOU to all
the children who voted and the Federation organisers – knowing that this award
has been chosen by children themselves makes it truly special.In fact it’s OCTOTASTIC!’
Established in 2000, in memory of award-winning author Henrietta Branford and her editor Wendy Boase, one of the founders of Walker Books, the Branford Boase Awardis given annually to the author and editor of the outstanding debut novel for children. Uniquely, it also honours the editor of the winning title and highlights the importance of the editor in nurturing new talent.
Last year’s winners were Muhammad Khan and his editor Lucy Pearse for I Am Thunder.The winner of the 2020 award will be announced in a special online ceremony at 6.00pm on Wednesday 9 September. We are delighted to welcome Layla Hudson of Round Table Books, one of the judges for the 2020 Award, describes the process and the 2020 shortlist
Being a judge for the 2020 Branford Boase Award has been an absolute honour. Since starting my bookselling career back in 2016, I’ve always wanted to be part of a judging panel and to share my thoughts with other judges about which books we thought were winners. Although, of course, it’s very tricky to choose one winner out of twenty books, I enjoyed the challenge immensely! It was also fun to do such critical reading; as a blogger I do tend to keep things in mind when it comes to needing to review a book, but this was on a whole different level. I found myself keeping notes and highlighting parts that I wanted to discuss, which isn’t something I usually do.
Of course, this year things were very different with our judging meetings and discussions. Back when I was first chosen to be a judge, I was looking forward to meeting my fellow judges in person and chatting books over cake. With lockdown, meetings had to be changed. We all met and spoke over Zoom, brought our own cakes if we wanted, sat with our stacks of books but were able to still chat passionately about the things we’d read and discuss our top favourites on the list. It was interesting to hear my fellow judges’ thoughts on the longlist, and was also great to get into discussion about our thoughts on particular books. Every reader is different, and my fellow judges Julia Eccleshare, Muhammad Khan, Sue Bastone and Victoria Dilly were an absolute delight to work with. Many passionate talks and agreements were had during our Zoom calls, and although we weren’t together, this didn’t stop us from running over our allotted meeting times with our discussions.
The 2020 shortlist has been incredibly strong, and I thoroughly enjoyed reading these books. Some of my new favourites came from this shortlist alone! Each book is so different which really shows the variety of books published today, and there are so many themes and topics discussed throughout. A Pocketful of Stars by Aisha Bushby not only talks about grief, but has the topic of change throughout the book as the main character navigates through the ups and downs of starting secondary school, The Million Pieces of Neena Gillby Emma Smith-Barton delicately discusses teenage mental health, and Frostheartby Jamie Littler is a triumphant adventure that has a core message of finding your voice. The shortlist also showcases some different and intriguing takes on traditional book publishing. For example,Bearmouth by Liz Hyder is written phonetically as the character is learning to read and write as you go through the book, which I’ve never seen before! A Good Girls Guide to Murder by Holly Jackson includes interview transcripts and video descriptions, whilst also showing parts of the main characters essay as she writes it, and The Space We’re Inby Katya Balen has coded chapter titles that you can decipher with the key at the start of the book. The editing process that the books have gone through is also to be applauded - there are some brilliant editors in the world of children’s publishing, and the books longlisted goes to show these talents. There is a wealth of new talent in the book world, and I was also proud that there were some books by Black authors and authors of colour on the list too. I hope that publishers continue to work hard to champion their books by diverse authors, and hope to see more featured in future awards.
Many thanks to Layla Hudson for her insightful thoughts and views on judging this year's Branford Boase Award and on the shortlist.
Posted By Jacob Hope,
13 July 2020
Updated: 13 July 2020
We are delighted to welcome Fen Coles and Catherine Barter, organisers of the Little Rebels Children’s Book Award. The Little Rebels was inaugurated in 2012 and on 15 July the 2020 shortlist will be announced. The National Shelf Service will be releasing videos with the shortlisted authors and illustrators from 11am on an hourly basis.
Can you tell us a little about the Little Rebels Children’s Book Award and how it came to be founded?
It grew out of the movement to revitalise a body for radical booksellers – this became The Alliance of Radical Booksellers. Housmans and Five Leaves wanted to launch an award for political non-fiction for adults Bread and Roses this was inaugurated in 2012. The booksellers decided they wanted a parallel children’s award. They were unsure on format and so decided to approach a radical children’s bookseller. Letterbox Library was the only dedicated one. Letterbox set-up the parameters to start the award and ran this on behalf of The Alliance of Radical Booksellers. The work got bigger and bigger and it began to feel unmanageable. Housman’s took over for a year with Catherine Barter taking the lead on this and since then Housmans and Letterbox Library have joined forces to run it.
Which books have won in the past and what made them winners?
Azzi in between – Sarah Garland.
It felt innovative, we weren’t aware of many graphic novel picture books which looked at refugees. There was a lot of information coming out at the time about refugees and particularly those in Syria. There was an avalanche of news that was difficult to digest and process. Judges felt Azzi in Between relayed this in a way that was understandable but that also managed to be quite optimistic, without being idealistic.
After Tomorrow – Gillian Cross
It’s a novel on the theme of refugees but it takes a different approach - the book starts with the five banks crashing in the UK. This forces people to seek refuge and causes mass starvation. It’s a Dystopian, designed to get children to empathise with refugee experiences, imagining themselves in a position they might otherwise never be in. Everything is flipped on its head with the subversion of ideas around who runs the camps and who inhabits them.
Scarlett Ibis – Gill Lewis
Gill Lewis has been on the shortlist many times ,an indication of how great she is at tackling politic issues but also perhaps signposting how little political writing there is for children. It looks at the care system in the UK and manages to critique it without ever demonising social workers. It explores ideas of mental health as well which had tended to be covered more in Young Adult fiction than in Middle Grade.
I am Henry Finch – Alexis Deacon, illustrated by Viviane Schwarz
This is the youngest book to win the Little Rebels award. It’s really original and questions ideas of identity and individuality in both a philosophical and a literal way. It makes big existential ideas tangible even for four-year-olds and so feels remarkable.
Ada Twist, Scientist – Andrea Beaty, illustrated by David Roberts
It is beautifully created, warm and funny. There were conversations around whether or not it is radical, however, there are not enough books published like this and part of the role for the awards is to amplify. It depicts a young black girl in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) and felt relatively pioneering and a way to raise aspirations. It’s more subtle than some of the other books showing girls in STEM as it is more detailed, fun and nuanced and it doesn’t feel tokenistic.
The Muslims – Zanib Mian
Sweet Apple published it as The Muslims and it later became part of a series, Planet Omar. For us it won for lots of different reasons, judges were attracted to the idea that it was a small publisher and that the author was little known. Part of the remit for the award is to amplify the voice of those who are not being amplified – creators and publishers. Its theme was also important as it counters Islamophobia. What is clever about it is it has a fun adventure narrative, but also offers a guide to Muslim Life and Culture in Modern Britain. It’s very clear in its mission, but manages to counter ever becoming didactic through its adept use of humour.
Freedom – Catherine Johnson
It won because there are so few books being written in this country which look at the United Kingdom’s culpability in enslavement. The country’s riches are built on enslavement and the persecution of other people. It’s a history that isn’t talked about or taught enough. In the hands of Catherine Johnson the subject is well-researched by a writer who handles historical fiction for middle grade at its absolute best.
Did you read any radical books as a child and what impression did these make upon you?
Catherine: I wish the answer was yes, but I don’t think I did. Most of my reading was very white and I used to read Bunty comics which often held a somewhat sanctimonious moral position which was put across in quite a condescending way. There were books that I read which were socially engaged, worthy children’s books centring around divorce and the family. Most of the radical ideas I came across were through children’s television with programmes like Grange Hill and Byker Grove.
Fen: It wasn’t good. The few books I read which might be considered radical included Louise Fitzhugh’s Harriet the Spy. This felt very different to me, it wasn’t making a comment about a feisty girl, but was an astute assertive character who wasn’t ‘girl-ified’, but was just a really interesting female lead.
The other book which made a real impression on me was The Story of Ferdinand – it was an old title about pacifism and a bull that doesn’t want to join in with the other bulls in the bullfighting ring, he just wants to sniff flowers. There was a deliberate anti-war message. It is probably quite sexist now, but really challenged ideas around masculinity and about war.
What qualities do you look for in judges and how does judging work?
Fen: Firstly they have to have a good knowledge of children’s literature – we have judges from a range of perspectives, they might be a bookseller, they could be a creator, they could be a consultant or educator. What is important is that joined with that, there has to be a political drive! That might be through charities they have been aligned with, through activism, but it might be quieter through an understanding and lobbying that children should have access to a wider range of titles. This in itself can be quite a radical form of politics.
Catherine: One of the interesting things with the awards is that we don’t always have a full understanding of what radical means until people are in the judging meetings discussing the books. It’s a good way for people’s positions to become clear.
Fen Coles: We tend to have four to five judges (the smallest we have had was two - Liz Laird and Wendy Cooling in the inaugural year). The judges get sent the shortlisted books and have a month to look at them. There is a judging meeting which Catherine and I attend but don’t input into. It’s not a chaired meeting, decisions always get made in the meeting and it usually lasts around half a day. Last year we had a bit of a shadowing initiative with school children and their feedback was read to the judges as part of the meeting.
How would you like to see the award develop?
Fen: We’ve had funding this year, which helped us to do some development work. We want to build on that. The award has a role to play in inspiring other creators to create radical children’s fiction. There’s a dearth of this in the UK and we would like to see more of it and hope the award might influence its creating, giving a license to create! It would help the award to be able to have a part-time, paid worker, but these positions are always difficult to fund raise for. We would like to see the school shadowing built upon and it was brilliant being able to read back the children’s views and comments on the Award Night. The audience really liked that and the children had valid and often different perspectives so we’d love to develop this and increase their input.
Catherine: There’s also the idea of having more associated prizes. Perhaps a sister Young Adult prize, a children’s non-fiction prize to help encourage the world of radical publishing for children.
It’s been a challenging year for awards and books when will the winners be announced?
We are hoping to announce in late September. We’ve pushed this back as far as we can without impacting on next year’s awards. The further away we can get the announcement, the closer we are to having some sort of event. Now that we have funding, we want to use that to celebrate and further amplify the winners.
Are there any ways in which libraries can get involved?
The award chimes well with libraries as they have a history of bringing a wide selection of books to the communities they serve. Little Rebels really lifts out the smaller publishers and lesser known voices. If libraries can be showcasing the shortlist and if we can do things to enable and empower them to do that it would be great. Having a librarian on the judging panel would be really useful.
We’re delighted by the partnership with the National Shelf Service as we are keen for as many children as possible to learn about these books. Perhaps there are ways libraries might be able to look at Little Rebels events, hosting authors who are shortlisted, using some of the books in children’s book groups or during storytimes.
A big thank you to Catherine and Fen for taking the time to talk to us at a busy point in the Little Rebels award calendar and for all of the energy and time that is invested in a deeply important award.
We are delighted to welcome Cassie Kemp to the Youth Libraries Group blog to discuss the benefits of being a judge for the UK's oldest and most prestigious children's book awards. Cassie is a librarian with Creative Learning Services in Leicestershire and has just completed her first year as a CILIP Carnegie and Kate Greenaway Judge. Positions on the judging panel are now open to application for East Midlands, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, to find out more and to apply visit here.
1.Books, books, books!
You get to read the best quality books for children and young people out there at the minute. You are able to surround yourself with wonderful books that are loved and have been chosen by fellow librarians. Not only do you get to read all these wonderful books, but you get to look at them in depth.
For those books you have been eagerly anticipating reading it’s so exciting to have a reason to read your favourite author’s new work, but it’s also a great opportunity to explore new books by a wide range of authors and illustrators.
2. Try something new
You will be able to read books you may not have heard about before or would not usually get a chance to read. Whether they are books for a different age group, a new genre or a new author or illustrator; you will be able add to your book knowledge as you devour the books.
There were some books that I know I wouldn’t have chosen to read normally, but that I was pleasantly surprised by, or books that I had absolutely no knowledge or preconceptions of that I was blown away by when I came to read them. We are all guilty of judging a book by its cover or author or genre, but this was a great exercise in showing me that there is a difference between favourite books and unfamiliar books, and that the latter is not a negative, but a positive waiting to be discovered.
3. Humbling
There is nothing quite like realising you are doing all this reading for the good of others- not for yourself directly, or for monetary gain, but for your profession and for young people. It’s a great motivator when you’re struggling to think of sharing the books with other readers and to be able to support the shadowing groups who will be devouring the books you are choosing.
I had a surreal moment during the first judging days when I stepped back and looked at our situation from afar; we were a room of enthusiastic readers from across the UK who were united by our love of reading and our passion for sharing and promoting great books. We were all there because we love what we do and we love to share that with others.
4. Networking Opportunities
You have the opportunity to work alongside like-minded people from across the UK, and share experiences, struggles and ideas whilst being able to hear what’s happening in libraries and authorities elsewhere, and of course- make new friends!
I was able to meet new people from similar working backgrounds and from completely different working backgrounds. We were able to talk about professional support, current challenges we were facing and how we were dealing with them. As well as being able to talk books (non-CKG of course!) and bask in the glow of other bookworms.
5. Personal Development
You will gain confidence and belief in yourself and your abilities during this process. You have been chosen to be a CKG judge for a reason and you’ll learn so much about yourself from this experience.
After the first judging day I came away feeling so confident in myself as a professional person- the same kind of feeling you get when you get given a job you really wanted or get recognition in your workplace for what you do. It was a great feeling of validation- I was able to contribute to discussions with the other judges and feel that my opinions were respected and shared.
6. Excuse to read books
While fitting the reading in with your everyday life and work can be tricky at times, the work you’re doing is reading- and we wouldn’t be CKG judges if we didn’t love reading! As a judge you are be able to read all weekend guilt-free because its for a good cause. It’s like having a reading pass, excusing you from reality for a few months.
And not only that but you get to re-read some of the books too when it comes to the latter stages of the process-- something we don’t often get time to do with our everyday reading books. Revisiting some of the books is a great experience- you’re looking at the books differently now you know more about the story and you discover new things you may have missed the first time round.
7. That winning feeling
Prior to the judging days the judges are not allowed to discuss the books- with anyone! The first time you get to talk about them is on the judging days and you can’t guarantee everyone feels the same as you do about a book. That’s why there are multiple judges from a range of backgrounds and workplaces- so our individual experiences and knowledge can be put together with that of others to gain a consensus of opinion. So when a book you think is great gets the thumbs up from the group, it’s a wonderful feeling. There were some books that I felt so passionately about when it came to the first round of judging that I found myself getting quite emotional and nervous for when it was their turn to be discussed.
8. Professional Recognition
It will look great on your CV! You’ve been chosen to be a part of history, of the oldest, most prestigious book award for children and young people in the UK. As one of my colleagues said to me when I found out I had been chosen “you can’t get a higher accolade than that in our profession!’
It’s a great experience on a personal level for your professional development but it can also look good for your workplace too- whether that’s a boost for your workplace to be able to say their librarian is a judge or for you to use as a reason to ask to attend conferences and other professional events because of your new standing in the professional society.
9. The support of other judges
You will be a judge for two years and the group of judges is made up of a mixture of first and second year judges, allowing the latter to share their knowledge and experience and offer advice to the former. You will also be supported by the CKG working party, the Chair of Judges and previous judges from your region.
As a first year judge this year I was lucky enough to be able to speak regularly to a mentor. This was a great help as I was able to ask all the silly questions I was too nervous to ask the judging group and find out more about what was to come and what was expected of me.
10. Learning about your own reading style
You will learn a lot about yourself as a reader, be able to push yourself out of your comfort zone and build up your reading stamina. The key to managing the reading is working out how you read best- whether that’s at a certain time of day, in short bursts or for large chunks of time.
I learnt that I work best when given a target- saying to myself “I’ll read another 50 pages then I’ll have a break/do the washing up/go to bed” so I didn’t feel overwhelmed or like I was missing out on life/housework/sleep! I found that very simple incentives worked too- like rewarding myself with a chocolate off the Christmas tree when I finished a book!
11. You CAN do it
When the nominations lists are announced and you see the number of the books you have to read in the next few months it can be overwhelming. You may feel like you will never be able to read them all, but you can and you will! The key is to be organised- draw up a timetable or a plan; tick the books off a list as you go or separate the read and not-yet-read books from each other so you can see your progress. The feeling of achievement when you’ve read all those books will be amazing!
I had all my Carnegie books on a bookcase at home and turned the one’s I’d read around so all I could see were those I had yet to read. For the Greenaway I moved books from one shelf to another when I’d read them. Being able to physically see my progress was both comforting and encouraging.
12. New terminology
You’ll probably be looking at books in a completely different way to the way you have before. Because of this you’ll pick up new terminology and phrases you may have not have heard before.
Before being a judge I was worried that I didn’t know enough about art and artistic style to be able to properly judge the Greenaway, but I found that this wasn’t the case. As a reader familiar with children’s books I knew more than I realised I knew and that perhaps I just didn’t know the technical term for what I was talking about. The CKG Working Party creates a handbook for judges and this includes a glossary of terms which was invaluable at the start of my judging tenure and I learnt a lot from my fellow judges too during the process.
13. The power!
You will know what books have been chosen to be on the longlists, shortlists and then what two books have been chosen as the winners before everyone else! This is somewhat of a double-edged sword as you have the power of knowledge, but you also have huge secrets to keep as well.
I had several experiences before the longlists and shortlists were announced when a particular book was discussed in my presence and I was fighting the urge to shout “I know, it’s great, isn’t it?” or “it’s on the shortlist!”
I also remember early on in the process feeling momentarily upset that I wouldn’t be able to follow the awards as I have done in previous years and get swept away with the anticipation of finding out which books had won or been shortlisted and longlisted this year. But then I realised that I would be in even a better position as a judge- I would be one of the people making that decision, making history and making some fabulous memories along the way.
Thank you to Cassie for sharing her experiences of judging and good luck as you enter your second year!
Now it is fourth year, the winners of the Laugh Out Loud Awards - popularly known as the Lollies - have been announced tonight. The awards were created by Scholastic, the children's publishing, education and media company, and recognise the funniest children's books. The winners of the awards are decided by children and the scheme has a reach across over 6.5 million children.
The Kids and Family Reading Report: UK edition, found that nearly two thirds of children aged 6-17 chose books that make them laugh to read for pleasure. There are three categories in the Lollies.
The winners were selected by a shortlist chosen by a panel of judges including Michael Rosen, Alison Leach, Scott Evans and Andria Zafirakou. Teachers and their classes, parents and children were then encouraged to get involved to read and discuss the books and cast votes for their favourites in each category to determine the winning titles.
The Winners this year are
(1) Best Laugh Out Loud Picture Book
Ten Fat Sausages by Michelle Robinson and Tor Freeman
(2) Best Laugh Out Loud book for 6-8 year olds
The World's Worst Children 3 by David Walliams and Tony Ross
Congratulations to all of the winners!
(3) Best Laugh Out Loud Book for 9-13 year olds
I Bet I Can Make You Laugh by Joshua Seigal and Tim Wesson
I thought I would tell you about the Celebration Event that we had last week for the Coventry Inspiration Book Awards. This was held at the Ricoh Arena with thanks to the Wasps Rugby Club whose sponsorship makes this possible. It is a great afternoon when the schools who have taken part get to meet the winning authors. and illustrators and present them with their awards. There are 5 categories, each starting off with 8 shortlisted books that get whittled down week by week as the books with the least votes get knocked out until we have our winner. What's the Story (ages 4-7) was won by Jim Whalley and Stephen Collins for the hilarious picture book Baby’s first Bank Heist. Telling Tales (ages 7-9) was won by the brilliantly comic Mr Penguin and the Lost Treasure by Alex T. Smith. Next was out transition category, Hooked on Books (ages 9-12), which crosses over from the top end of Primary into the first couple of years of Secondary was won by the fantastic House with Chicken Legs by Sophie Anderson. Our final 2 categories are for Secondary Schools only with the winner of the Simply the Book category (13+) being the amazing Sycthe by Neal Shusterman. lthough Neal couldn’t be here for the celebration event as he lives in America many of our students were lucky enough to meet him back in December when he came to Coventry as part of a very short UK visit. Our final category is for all those teenagers who are short on time, Rapid Reads, quick read books for ages 11-16. This was won by Ann Evans for her scary book A Little Secret. It was a brilliant afternoon with a wonderful buzz of excitement and enthusiasm as a room full of students of all ages talked about their favourite books and checked out new recommendations.
It is hard work running the book awards on top of all our usual School Library Service work and we have already announced out shortlists for next year so it is a year round operation! However, it is all worth it when you read the comments left by the students at the Celebration Event. Here are a couple of my favourites; “Every Book was amazing and has inspired me to read”, “I loved this event and look forward to more in other years” and “The Book Awards has drawn me more into reading”. As children's librarians it is important to remember that what we do is important and can have a real impact on children's lives so we should shout about it more often and loudly. If you are lucky enough to have a local children's book awards then find out how you can get involved as together with National Book Awards like the Carnegie and Kate Greenaway Medals they are a wonderful way of introducing children and young people to a wide range of wonderful books which they might not come across on their own. By doing so you increase the chances of them finding the book that speaks to them and switches them on to reading with pleasure. This is how you help to create lifelong readers which is something all librarians aspire to.
Posted By Jacob Hope,
08 June 2019
Updated: 08 June 2019
Founded in 1980 by national children's reading charity, the Federation of Children's Book Groups, the Children's Book Award is now in its 39th Year. It is the only National UK Children's Book Award to be voted for entirely by children. Each year an impressive 150,000+ votes are cast, involving nearly 250 schools across the UK.
The winneers have been announced today at a special awards ceremony and Arree Chung's Mixed, a book exploring colour, tolerance and embracing difference has come first. Aree won the Books for Younger Children before winning the overall prize this year. Commenting on his win Arree said, 'It touches me to know that the message of diversity, acceptance and love has resonated with the harts of the youth in the UK. The world indeed is a colourful blend of people and culture.'
Armistice Runner by Tom Palmer has won the Older Reader category and The Dog Who Lost His Bark, written by Eoin Colfer and illustrated by PJ Lynch is named the Books for Younger Readers Category winner.
Congratulations to all of the winners and to the Federation of Children's Book Groups for a superb initiative.
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